Letter home from Stanley boy in Army
July 25, 1940 to The Stanley Sun
Paul’s parents where profiled by The Stanley Sun and were the subjects of a post just recently. See Adolph Solvang profile
Paul Solvang Serves U. S. IN ARMY
Yelm, Washington, July 25, 1940,
Dear Sirs:-
I received the papers you sent me and am writing my appreciation and thanks for them. They were the first papers I have read from home in more than three years.
I’d would like to straighten out a little (?) that I read in the Sun.
(I am) not stationed at Portland, as you (?) but at Fort Stevens, Ore which is at the mouth of the Columbia River near the town of Astoria (Oregon).
I just just received word that my battery is sailing for Panama on or around the (?) of September. I will be stationed somewhere in the Canal Zone for the next years.
Since joining the army, I have had two raises in pay. At present I am making $36.00 a month and have a very good chance for advancement.
I am also taking a military correspondence course in preparation for entering a military school.
Since it's getting close to dinner time. I must close.
Sincerely Yours.
PAUL SOLVANG
There is an amusing story about 12 year old Paul that appeared in the Bismarck Tribune. (1934).
I think Paul did not graduate from Stanley High School. His service record indicates he enlisted January 3, 1940 and was discharged 15 months later on April 7, 1941. He married and was living in Tacoma WA at the time of his death.